Home Prices Maintained Growth in Second Quarter

Sustained disproportions in supply and demand for various metro areas across the nation slightly slowed the pace of sales and caused home prices to maintain their growth in the second quarter, according to the latest quarterly report by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR).

The national median existing single-family home price in the second quarter was $255,600 – up 6.2 percent from the second quarter of 2016 ($240,700).

2Q prices surpassed the third quarter of last year ($241,300) as the new peak quarterly median sales price.

The median price during the first quarter increased 6.9 percent from the first quarter of 2016.

Single-family home prices last quarter increased in 87 percent of measured markets, with 154 out of 178 metropolitan statistical areas1 (MSAs) showing sales price gains in the second quarter compared with the second quarter of 2016.

Twenty-three areas (13 percent) recorded lower median prices from a year earlier.

Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist, says home prices in most metro areas continued to increase in the second quarter because supply remained at low levels.

“The 2.2 million net new jobs created over the past year generated significant interest in purchasing a home in what was an extremely competitive spring buying season,” says Yun. “Listings typically flew off the market in under a month ­– and even quicker in the affordable price range – in several parts of the country. With new supply not even coming close to keeping pace, price appreciation remained swift in most markets.”

Twenty-three metro areas in the second quarter (13 percent) experienced double-digit increases, down from 30 areas in the first quarter (17 percent). Overall, there were slightly more rising markets in the second quarter compared to the first quarter, when price gains were recorded in 85 percent of metro areas.

Metro area condominium and cooperative prices – covering changes in 61 metro areas – showed the national median existing-condo price was $239,500 in the second quarter, up 5.4 percent from the second quarter of 2016 ($227,200). Eighty-seven percent of metro areas showed gains in their median condo price from a year ago.

Existing-home sales in the South dipped 3.0 percent in the second quarter but are 2.5 percent higher than the second quarter of 2016. The median existing single-family home price in the South was $229,400 in the second quarter, 6.7 percent above a year earlier.